Some people came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers that unless they were circumcised as Moses prescribed, they could not be saved.

In my opinion, therefore, we ought not to put obstacles in the way of those of the heathen who are turning to God,

For the holy Spirit and we have decided not to lay upon you any burden but this indispensable one,

But Paul did not approve of taking with them a man who had deserted them in Pamphylia instead of going on with them to their work.

and when they reached Mysia they tried to get into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit it,

There Paul had a vision one night; a Macedonian was standing appealing to him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."

But Paul shouted out, "Do not do yourself any harm! We are all here!"

And right then in the night, he took them and washed their wounds, and he and all his household were baptized immediately.

As they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the town magistrates, shouting, "The men who have made trouble all over the world have come here too,

The brothers sent Paul and Silas away immediately, in the course of the following night, to Berea. On arriving there they went to the Jewish synagogue.

God who created the world and all that is in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples built by human hands,

nor is he waited on by human hands as though he were in need of anything, for he himself gives all men life and breath and everything.

So if we are God's children we ought not to imagine that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, wrought by human art and thought.

But as they contradicted and abused him, he shook his clothes in protest, and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am not to blame for it! After this I will go to the heathen."

One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, "Do not be afraid! Go on speaking and do not give up,

They asked him to stay longer, but he would not consent.

and you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but almost all over Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and drawn away numbers of people, telling them that gods made by human hands are not gods at all.

There is danger, therefore, not only that this business of ours will be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be neglected and the magnificence of her whom all Asia and the world worship will be a thing of the past!"

Paul wanted to go before the people himself, but the disciples would not allow it.

Some of the religious authorities also, who were friends of his, sent to him and begged him not to venture into the theater.

At last the recorder quieted the mob and said, "Men of Ephesus, who in the world does not know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis, and of the image that fell down from the sky?

So as these facts are undeniable, you must be calm, and not do anything reckless.

For you have brought these men here, though they have not been guilty of disloyalty nor uttered any blasphemy against our goddess.

For we are in danger of being charged with rioting in connection with today's events, though there is really nothing about this commotion that we will not be able to explain."

But Paul went downstairs, and threw himself upon him, and put his arms around him. "Do not be alarmed," he said, "he is still alive."

For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he would not have to lose any time in Asia, for he was hurrying to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of the Harvest Festival.

I am here now on my way to Jerusalem, for the Spirit compels me to go there, though I do not know what will happen to me there,

But my life does not matter, if I can only finish my race and do the service intrusted to me by the Lord Jesus, of declaring the good news of God's favor.

Therefore I declare to you today that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you,

for I have not shrunk from letting you know God's purpose without reserve.

I know that after I am gone savage wolves will get in among you and will not spare the flock,

So you must be on your guard and remember that for three years, night and day, I never stopped warning any of you, even with tears.

So we looked up the disciples there and stayed a week with them. Instructed by the Spirit, they warned Paul not to set foot in Jerusalem.

When we heard this, we and the people there all begged him not to go up to Jerusalem.

Then Paul answered, "What do you mean by crying and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound at Jerusalem but to die there for the sake of the Lord Jesus."

So as he would not yield, we gave up urging him, and said, "The Lord's will be done!"

Some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us and took us to the house of Mnason, a man from Cyprus, one of the early disciples, to spend the night.

They have been told that you teach all Jews who live among the heathen to turn away from Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children nor to observe the old customs.

Some of the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and as he could not find out the facts on account of the confusion, he ordered him to be taken into the barracks.

"Are you not the Egyptian who some time ago raised the four thousand cut-throats and led them out into the desert?"

The men who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me.

As I could not see, because of the dazzling light, my companions had to lead me by the hand, and so I reached Damascus.

and saw him saying to me, 'Make haste and leave Jerusalem at once, for they will not accept your evidence about me.'

They had listened to him until he said that, but then they shouted, "Kill him and get him out of the world! A creature like that ought not to be allowed to live!"

"I did not know, brothers," said Paul, "that he was high priest, for the Scripture says, 'You shall not say anything against any ruler of your people.' "

On the following night the Lord stood beside him and said, "Courage! For just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, you must testify in Rome also."

In the morning, the Jews made a conspiracy and took an oath not to eat or drink till they had killed Paul.

and they went to the high priests and elders and said to them, "We have taken a solemn oath not to touch anything to eat till we have killed Paul.

But do not let them persuade you, for more than forty of them are lying in wait for him, and they have taken an oath not to eat or drink till they have killed him. They are all ready now, and are only waiting to get your promise."

So the colonel sent the youth away, directing him not to tell anyone that he had given him this information.

and found that their accusations had to do with questions about their Law, but that he was not charged with anything that would call for his death or imprisonment.

Then the soldiers took Paul, as they had been ordered to do, and escorted him as far as Antipatris that night.

for it is not more than twelve days ago, as you can easily satisfy yourself, that I went up to worship at Jerusalem,

He ordered the officer to keep Paul in custody, but to allow him some freedom, and not to prevent his friends from looking after him.

When he came, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him, and made a number of serious charges against him, which they could not substantiate.

If I am guilty and have done anything that deserves death, I do not refuse to die; but if there is no truth in the charges that these men make against me, no one can give me up to them; I appeal to the emperor."

I told them that it was not the Roman custom to give anybody up until the accused met his accusers face to face and had a chance to defend himself against their accusations.

But when his accusers got up, they did not charge him with any such crimes as I had expected.

Then Festus said, "King Agrippa and all who are present, you see here the man about whom the whole Jewish people have applied to me both at Jerusalem and here, clamoring that he ought not to live any longer.

I could not find that he had done anything for which he deserved death, but as he appealed to his Majesty I decided to send him to him.

the promise in the hope of seeing which fulfilled our twelve tribes serve God zealously night and day. It is about this hope, your Majesty, that I am accused by some Jews.

Therefore, King Agrippa, I did not disobey that heavenly vision,

"I am not raving, your Excellency Festus," said Paul, "I am telling the sober truth.

The king knows about this, and I can speak to him with freedom. I do not believe that he missed any of this, for it did not happen in a corner!

"In a hurry or not," said Paul, "I would to God that not only you, but all who hear me today, might be what I am??xcept for these chains!"

and after leaving the room, in talking the matter over together, they said, "This man has not done anything to deserve death or imprisonment."

"He might have been set at liberty," said Agrippa to Festus, "if he had not appealed to the emperor."

"Gentlemen," he said, "I see that this voyage is likely to end in disaster and heavy loss, not only to ship and cargo but to our own lives also."

and as the harbor was not fit to winter in, the majority favored putting to sea again, in the hope of being able to reach and winter in Phoenix, a harbor in Crete facing west-south-west and west-north-west.

The ship was caught by it and could not face the wind, so we gave way and let her run before it.

Then, when they had gone a long time without food, Paul got up among them, and said, "Gentlemen, you ought to have listened to me and not to have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss.

For last night an angel of the God I belong to and serve stood before me,

and said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul! You must stand before the emperor, and see! God has given you the lives of all the people who are on the ship with you.'

It was the fourteenth night of the storm, and we were drifting through the Adriatic when about midnight the sailors began to suspect that there was land ahead.

I beg you to eat something; it is necessary for your safety. For not one of you will lose even a hair of his head."

When daylight came they could not recognize the coast, but they saw a bay with a beach and determined to run the ship ashore there if possible.

But they struck a shoal and ran the ship aground. The bow struck and could not be moved, while the stern began to break up under the strain.

When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "This man is undoubtedly a murderer, for though he has been saved from the sea, justice will not let him live."

So they fixed a day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying, and from morning till night he explained to them the Kingdom of God and gave his testimony, trying to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets.

Some of them were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe.

As they could not agree among themselves, they started to leave, when Paul added one last word. "The holy Spirit put it finely," he said, "when it said to your forefathers through the prophet Isaiah,

For I am not ashamed of the good news, for it is God's power for the salvation of everyone who has faith, of the Jew first and then of the Greek.

for, though they knew God, they have not honored him as God or given thanks to him, but they have indulged in futile speculations, until their stupid minds have become dark.

They know God's decree that those who act in this way deserve to die, yet they not only do it, but applaud any who do.

For merely hearing the Law read does not make a man upright in the sight of God; men must obey the Law to be made upright.

So if people who are uncircumcised observe the requirements of the Law, will they not be treated as though they were circumcised?

For the real Jew is not the man who is one outwardly, and the real circumcision is not something physical and external.

The real Jew is the man who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart, a spiritual, not a literal, thing. Such a man receives his praise not from men, but from God.

And why not say, as people abuse us for saying and charge us with saying, "Let us do evil that good may come out of it"? Such people will be condemned as they deserve!

What does this mean? Are we Jews at a disadvantage? Not at all. We have already charged Jews and Greeks all alike with being under the control of sin.

As the Scripture says, "There is not a single man who is upright,

All have turned away, they are one and all worthless, No one does right, not a single one!

They do not know the way of peace.

Does God belong to the Jews alone? Does he not belong to the heathen too? Of course he belongs to the heathen too;

For if he was made upright by what he did, it is something to be proud of. But not to be proud of before God,

Now paying a workman is not considered a favor, but an obligation,

In what circumstances? Was it after he was circumcised or before? Not after he was circumcised, but before;

and the forefather of those circumcised persons who not only share his circumcision but follow our forefather Abraham's example in the faith he had before he was circumcised.

For the promise made to Abraham and his descendants that the world should belong to him did not come to him or his descendants through the Law, but through the uprightness that resulted from his faith.

That is why it all turns upon faith; it is to make it a matter of God's favor, so that the promise may hold good for all Abraham's descendants, not only those who are adherents of the Law, but also those who share the faith of Abraham. For he is the father of all of us;